Dysgraphia checklist

HandwritingThe signs below may indicate someone has dysgraphia – they do not need to have all of these problems. However, if these problems continue beyond the time that the average child/student has grown out of them, they may indicate dysgraphia and advice should be sought.

checklist on dysgraphia

* Written text very poor considering language development.
* Poor motor control.
* Writing that is almost impossible to read.
* Mixture of printing and cursive writing on the same line.
* Writes in all directions, i.e. right slant then left slant.
* Big and small spaces between words.
* Different sized letters on the same line.
* Mixes up capital letters and lower case letters on the same line.
* Abnormal and irregular formation of letters.
* Very slow writing.
* Very slow copying from board.
* Does not follow margins.
* Grips the pen too tight and with a ‘fist grip’.
* Holds pen very low down so fingers almost touches the paper.
* Watches hand intently whilst actually writing.
* Poor spelling.
* Bizarre spelling.
* Problems with spelling wrong words i.e., ‘brot’ for brought and ‘stayshun’ for station.
* Problems with spelling words such as i.e. drink as ‘brink’.


Dysgraphia may only recently been recognised and does not have the same stigma surrounding it as dyslexia, but it is very important that it is recognised as soon as possible. If these problems are not picked up at an early age, they impact on a child’s self-esteem and take a long time to sort out.